Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Tapenade Topped BBQ Cod with Hot New Potato Salad with Mint & Spring Onions

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Tapenade Topped BBQ Cod

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Tapenade Topped BBQ Cod

with

Hot New Potato Salad with Mint & Spring Onions

Hot New Potato Salad with Mint & Spring Onions

Well, look at this, my regular Fish on Friday post has become a Fish in Saturday post, but, with good reason……I had a few internet problems yesterday and by the time they were all sorted out in the late afternoon and early evening, I was too tired to sit down and write my post…….sorry! But, what difference does a day make, not much, as these two recipes, using FABULOUS Scottish products, will both be here for perpetuity, so you can copy the recipes and enjoy them on Friday, or any other day of the week come to that! The wild cod fillets are part of a special  BBQ Fish Box that John at Delish Fish is currently promoting……..I know it’s not been great barbecue weather lately, I grant you, but all of the recipes I have developed for the BBQ fish season CAN be grilled, pan-fried or roasted, so they are VERY adaptable recipes.  The cod fillets that I received  from Delish Fish were individually packed for convenience and freezing, and boned, and what can I say about them after they were cooked? DELISH FISH! 

Delish Fish Wild Cod Fillets

And the potatoes? Well, these lovely potatoes (as seen in my photos) are what I received as part of my Scotty Brand Blogger commitment, and they are not just any old potatoes, they are Ayrshire New Potatoes, of which the principal variety for the 2012 season are called Casablanca.  They are oval, creamy fleshed potatoes with a floury texture and smooth white skin, and I can vouch for the fact that they are delicious! 

Scotty Brand Ayrshire New Potatoes

So why are Ayrshire New Potatoes so special? Well, Ayrshire is an ideal location to grow early potatoes because it is on the South-West coast of Scotland, which benefits from the warming waters of the Gulf Stream, and these potatoes were harvested and packed locally, which means that they can be with you as soon as 2 days after lifting. You can taste the fresh, earthy and sweet flavour of a true Scottish potato, and I have to say that these were wonderful in the Hot New Potato Salad with Mint & Spring Onions  that I served with the Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Tapenade Topped BBQ Codfor lunch the other day. Here’s some more “Tattie Facts” from the Scotty Brand website……..

DID YOU KNOW……

You don’t need to peel new potatoes, much of the flavour (and the vitamin C goodness) can be found just under the skins.

New potatoes are sweeter since their sugar has not yet converted into starch. That’s why they are such delicious salad potatoes. 

Add a dash of lemon juice to the cooking water to help preserve the colour of the new potatoes

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The name spud for a small potato comes from the digging of soil (or a hole) prior to the planting of potatoes. The word has an unknown origin and was originally (c. 1440) used as a term for a short knife or dagger, probably related to Dutch spyd and/or the Latin “spad-” root meaning “sword”; cf. Spanish “espada”, English “spade”. The word spud traces back to the 16th century. It subsequently transferred over to a variety of digging tools and, around 1845, it transferred over to the tuber itself.

Potatoes originated in the Andean mountain region of South America between 4,000 and 7,000 years ago and were introduced to Europe by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585, though this is disputed and many believe Spanish explorers were the first to return to Europe with potatoes in 1550.

At first many people in Europe were suspicious of them because they were not mentioned in the Bible and some others thought they were poisonous.

Early potatoes have been grown in Girvan since the 1850s. Ayrshire potatoes in the late 19th and early 20th century were primarily harvested by migrant Irish workers, or “Tattie Howkers”. In 1910, for example, around 1,000 tattie howkers were employed in the Girvan area alone and special trains were laid on to transport the crop around the UK from Girvan station.

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Tapenade Topped BBQ Cod with Hot New Potato Salad with Mint & Spring Onions

But back to my two recipes now……I was REALLY pleased with BOTH recipes, I have to admit that the reason that they were both so lovely is down to the raw ingredients, beautiful fresh boned and filleted fish and fresh new potatoes. I like to think that I my own culinary imagination has a part to play too however, and I was VERY pleased with my simple “store cupboard” tapenade as well as the hot potato salad sans mayonnaise, as is usual in a potato salad. I did use two other AMAZING British products in both recipes, some amazing local Yorkshire rapeseed oil (cold pressed virgin oil) with black peppers, and the world famous Maldon Salt……so, a VERY British meal, and rightly so too, as we have so many wonderful local and regional products and ingredients on this small island nation. 

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Tapenade Topped BBQ Cod with Hot New Potato Salad with Mint & Spring Onions

Before I share my two recipes with you below, I would like to share the FAMILY with you! That’s the Ayrshire New Potatoes family, as when you buy Scotty Brand potatoes, or any other products, you get to fond out where they were grown and by whom! And my lovely new tatties were grown by the Girvan Early Growers; new potatoes farmers that are part of a co-operative. Formed in 1990, it is a group of farmers, based in Girvan, South Ayrshire, who specialise in growing early potatoes.  The co-operative has supplied Albert Bartlett since its formation and is very conscious of the environment.  It is an accredited member of the Assured Produce scheme…….which is wonderful to know. The lovely fresh wild cod fillets came from John at Delish Fish, as I mentioned earlier, but you can get a BBQ Fish Box too, if you fancy a Fishy BBQ Banquet, the boxes are available at a special price right now from his website here: BBQ Fish Box.  That’s it for FISH on Saturday! See you over the weekend with more recipes and culinary ramblings…..Karen.

Hot New Potato Salad with Mint & Spring Onions

Hot New Potato Salad with Mint and Spring Onions

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Serves	4 to 6
Prep time	5 minutes
Cook time	20 minutes
Total time	25 minutes
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish, Salad, Side Dish, Snack
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold, Serve Hot
Occasion	Barbecue, Birthday Party, Casual Party, Christmas, Easter, Formal Party, Thanksgiving, Valentines day
Region	British
By author	Karen S Burns-Booth

A simple and tasty hot potato salad that takes advantage of lovely Ayrshire New Potatoes, and Yorkshire Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil with Peppers; I also used Maldon Salt for a totally BRITISH recipe. This hot potato salad is JUST as nice when served cold too....and is great for buffets, garden parties, picnics and family suppers.

Ingredients

• 750g Ayrshire New Potatoes, cut in half or quarters if large (washed and scrubbed, but NOT peeled)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons British Rapeseed Oil with Black Peppers (I used Yorkshire Rapeseed Oil, cold pressed extra virgin)
• 6 to 8 spring onions, trimmed and cut into small rounds (but with green tops left on)
• Large handful of fresh mint (roughly chopped with some baby leaves left for a garnish)
• Maldon Salt (to taste, about 1/2 teaspoon)

Note

A simple and tasty hot potato salad that takes advantage of lovely Ayrshire New Potatoes, Yorkshire Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil with Peppers and fresh herbs; I also used Maldon Salt for a totally BRITISH recipe. This hot potato salad is JUST as nice when served cold too....and is great for buffets, garden parties, picnics and family suppers.

Directions

Step 1	Boil the potatoes in fresh water with a little salt until they are soft but NOT too soft as to break up. Drain them and add the rapeseed oil, mix well and replace lid for a minute.
Step 2	After a minute, mix the oil through the potatoes again, and add the chopped spring onions and mint, mix through, season to taste with salt. Arrange the the hot potato salad in an attractive serving bowl, garnish with some fresh mint sprigs and leaves and serve immediately.

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Tapenade Topped BBQ Cod

Barbecued Wild Cod with Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Tapenade

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Serves	2
Prep time	2 hours, 15 minutes
Cook time	15 minutes
Total time	2 hours, 30 minutes
Allergy	Fish
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish
Misc	Pre-preparable, Serve Hot
Occasion	Barbecue, Birthday Party, Casual Party
Region	French
By author	Karen S Burns-Booth

A fabulous fish recipe with the sunny flavours of the Provence. Wild Scottish cod steaks or fillets are simply barbecued with a robust roasted red pepper and sun-dried tomato tapenade topping.......the cod can be roasted in the oven when BBQ season has finished or the weather is bad!

Ingredients

• 2 wild cod fillets or cod steaks
• olive oil

Tapenade

• 1 jar (190g) jar roasted red peppers in oil, drained
• 100g sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 teaspoon capers, drained
• 3 tablespoons fresh basil, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, leaves stripped from woody stems
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley. roughly chopped
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of drained oil from peppers and/or sun-dried tomatoes

Note

A fabulous fish recipe with the sunny flavours of the Provence. Wild Scottish cod steaks or fillets are simply barbecued with a robust roasted red pepper and sun-dried tomato tapenade topping.......the cod can be roasted in the oven when BBQ season has finished or the weather is bad!

Directions

Step 1	Tapenade: In the bowl of a food processor, combine all of the tapenade ingredients, except the salt and pepper and pulse until finely chopped and the mixture is well blended but NOT a very fine purée. Transfer to a serving bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving or using, to allow the flavours to blend. At this stage the tapenade can be stored in a jar for future use and will last for a week or two in the fridge. NB: This can also be done with a hand-held stick (immersion) blender too; place ingredients in a bowl and pulse them as before.
Step 2	Light the barbecue and allow coals to burn down for 5 to 10 minutes until glowing red and not with a big flame, or if using gas, turn it on and allow to get hot for 3 to 5 minutes. Take a BBQ foil tray, and generously oil with oil.
Step 3	Dribble some olive oil over the cod and turn them around so they are covered on all sides. Place the cod skin side down (if the cod has skin) onto the oiled BBQ foil tray and close the BBQ lid, cook for 5 minutes before opening lid and spreading some of the tapenade on top of the skinless side of the fish. Close the lid again and cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes, DEPENDING in the thickness and size of the cod steaks/fillets. Check they are cooked by flaking a little of the fish off, if cooked the fish should flake easily and will be opaque.
Step 4	Gently lift the fish off the foil tray and serve immediately with steamed potatoes, salad or other seasonal vegetables of your choice.
Step 5	NB: If you don't have a foil BBQ tray, sit the cod on a sheet of extra strong foil and place directly onto the BBQ grill.

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Tapenade Topped BBQ Cod with Hot New Potato Salad with Mint & Spring Onions

Disclaimer: I was sent some fish and potatoes by Delish Fish and Scotty Brand, with NO request to write a review or to write a post on my blog or anywhere else; I chose to promote the fish and the potatoes,  as I think that they are both quality British products. With sincere thanks to Delish Fish and Scotty Brand for sending me these to try.

This is not a sponsored post.  

Karen S Burns-Booth

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Tapenade Topped BBQ Cod

As my tapenade recipe has TOMATOES in it, I am entering this into Laura (how to cook good food) and Nazima’s (working London mummy) One Ingredient event for July, as the ingredient is, TOMATOES! 

Do you have a favourite barbecue recipe for fish or something else?

Have you managed to cook outside yet this summer?